An Unexpected Gift
by Booglebee
Summary: AU fic. Set In NZ (for now). When Brittany starts University the last thing she expects is to meet someone like the fiery foreign exchange student Santana Lopez. Rated M for future chapters.
1. Prologue

**An Unexpected Gift**

**I have set this in NZ with Britt moving there as a teen and Santana being an exchange student from America. However, I thought about changing it to Britt's family moving overseas still but her deciding to go back to the States for University? Which is where she meets Santana. Please let me know if you read through this and don't like it but might consider reading it if I change that aspect? Thanks! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of its characters.**

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**_Prologue_**

She had always been fascinated by people. The way they acted, the way they lied, their body language, the way some had bullied her, while others turned a blind eye. The way that academics came easy to some, while she had difficulty. Or the way she loved movement and dance, while others had two left feet and preferred to sit on their behinds. She was intrigued by other cultures, by the numerous religions, by social-classes and had always had difficulty understanding why some people did not have the same rights as others. She did not believe in labels, but wanted to know why some viewed them as so significant. All of this contributed to one of the reasons why she was now standing in front of the historic, ivory coloured Hall of Residence which would be her home for the next year while she began her university experience.

She had been living in New Zealand since she was 15 when her father received a job offer that was impossible to refuse. At first she had kicked up a fuss. The usually calm girl began to cause tantrums, once even declaring herself on a hunger strike (which only last a couple of hours), and even going as far as to run away (at least as far as her grandparents place a few blocks over) before eventually taking the time to listen to her parents and realising this opportunity could be rather fascinating after all. She had people she knew she would probably miss (at least a little bit), but no one she would necessarily call a friend. She had been tall and lanky, with those darn wide rimmed tan glasses she had to wear as she was not allowed contacts yet. She had not viewed herself as lonely - she liked her own company - but sometimes she could not help but wish she had just one close friend she could have had sleepovers with and tell all her secrets to like her younger sister did. Although when her parents said they were moving half way across the world she realised she was lucky not to have a best friend to be separated from as her sister was a mess. School life in New Zealand was not necessarily better than back home - here she was ridiculed once again for her height, for her unique way of thinking and for writing in rainbows rather than just plain biro - and being a foreigner with an unusual accent meant she could not be as inconspicuous as she had been able to achieve back home. At least they did not throw slushies here like they did back at McKinley, she had thought to herself one time. While she had never been on the unfortunate end of one, she knew it would have only been a matter of time.

Adjusting to life in the southern hemisphere was not easy. It took her some time to get used to the accent, and the seasons being all jumbled up round the wrong way. She had missed cheerleading, but at least she still got to wear a uniform every day so she did not have to choose an outfit five days a week. That would have been a nuisance. In the beginning her heart ached for her extended family, especially her father's parents, while her thoughts about her old classmates were always fleeting. Her new classmates were different, not in a positive or negative way necessarily, just different and it was strange being in an all-girls school - she had not even known they existed before – but her parents said it was the finest school in the area and she did not know any different. She got the chance to learn songs in a foreign language, to try fish and chips on the beach, and have barbeques at Christmas time. It was not all bad. She was disappointed, however, to find that when she graduated high school a couple of months ago she did not get to wear a cap and gown. She would have to wait another three years or so for that, but she was patient.

Now here she was, 18 years old, having first moved halfway around the world, and now moving half way around her new country to study sociology and anthropology. She did not know what she wanted to do with her life, but for now she just wanted to learn more about people, culture and society and perhaps make some proper friends at last.

"Britt?" she heard her mother say behind her, and she turned slightly to glance back at her. Her mother's eyes were shining with unshed tears, but the gentle smile on her face showed that while she was sad to be leaving her eldest daughter here, she was also incredibly proud of how far she had come. "You ready to go in and get settled?"

She nodded, and reached out to beckon her mother forward so they could link elbows, before adjusting her pack on her back while her father and younger sister grabbed the rest of her belongings out of their family jeep. With one last glance behind her she took a step forward, ready for this new and exciting stage of her life.

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**This is my first possible multi-chapter fic. My last fic only got a couple of reviews but then I found out it had had a couple hundred views so please let me know if I should continue this or not! If I don't..I probably won't continue it. Or maybe I will. I haven't really written much before. **

**Thanks :)**


	2. Chapter One

**Okay, so I think I am going to keep it as it is..for now. Sorry this chapter is short. I'm struggling a little as I am a newbie to writing. But please let me know if it is any good. Or if it is terrible! :) Or completely boring... **

**Also I apologise for any mistakes. I did read over it, but I could have easily missed something. Sorry. Please let me know if you see any so I can edit it. Thanks.**

**There are meant to line breaks in this. But at first they didn't work so I apologise if they don't show up! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of it's characters. **

Chapter One:

Her eyes followed the small ball as she tossed it gently into the air, yet again, her right hand outstretched to catch on its descent before letting it drop to the carpet as she let out a faint sigh and closed her eyes. It was silent in her room, except for her steady breathing, with her roommate absent which had become the norm. At first she had been disappointed that her roommate seemed to spend so little time there. She had been hopeful that they could have become friends and maybe they still would - they would be sharing a room for a year after all - but whenever Brittany saw her, her roommate was either just leaving the room, or rushing in quickly to grab seemingly important yet forgotten possessions before disappearing in an instant.

At this moment Brittany was relieved to have their room to herself. It had been a couple of weeks since she had first stood outside this historic building with her family. The goodbye had been easier than she had expected, at least from her side. The excitement of University had been bubbling through her veins and her mind had not been able to focus on much else.

She lazily opened her eyes, shifting her head slightly to the left to gaze out the window at the slowly setting sun, its warmth trapped behind the glass, as she sighed for the second time in the space of a few minutes. She clasped her fingers together over her stomach as she pressed her head back against her pillow, trying to find a more comfortable position, before letting her eyes drift shut again.

When she awoke the room was in darkness, except for the thin ray of moonlight peeking in through the window, and there was a faint buzzing in her head. It took her a moment to realise it must be her phone, before scrambling to her feet to pull it from her bag that she had unceremoniously tossed to the ground when she came in hours earlier. Glancing at the display her lips curled upwards slightly as she dragged the answer button from left to right and raised it to her ear.

"Hey Mom," she answered.

"Hey sweetie, how are you doing? How are your classes going?"

"Good. They're good. Pretty interesting and stuff," she responded vaguely, trying her best to keep her voice steady.

There was a slight hitch in her breath, unnoticeable to anyone else, except this was Brittany's mother.

"What's wrong honey?"

"Nothing," she replied, wincing in the darkness of her room.

"Sweetie, I'm your mother. Are you not enjoying yourself? Do you not like what you're studying?"

"No, no. It's not that. It's just..," she paused "it's just a lot to get used to y'know? I miss you guys. Making friends isn't working out as easily as I imagined it would. My roommate is never here, so I guess that is just another failed friendship in the making..."

"Brittany," her mother responded sharply "you are amazing. Don't you forget that for a second! Anyone would be lucky to be your friend and have you in their life. Look, I know you've always struggled with meeting people, but trust me, I'm sure you will find someone who will want to spend time you, just for you…just be patient honey," her voice softening.

Brittany smiled softly.

"Thanks Mom," she mumbled into the microphone "...I miss you."

"I miss you too. Do you want to keep talking? I know it's late."

"Yeah I should probably head to bed. I've got class at 8am tomorrow, and it's statistics," she answered with a sigh "but I'll talk to you again soon. Say hi to Dad and Kate for me."

"Will do honey. Sleep well."

"You too Mom."

She hung up, placing her phone on her nightstand, feeling somewhat comforted and allowed herself to relax and unwind properly for the first time that week. With an slight skip to her step she headed over towards the window to draw the curtains when a crash caused her to jump and turn a full 180 degrees on the spot, automatically adopting a defensive stance only to see her roommate stumble in through the now open doorway, mumbling incoherently before collapsing onto the bed a couple of feet away from Brittany.

With yet another faint sigh Brittany turned back to the window, gazing at the glowing orb in the sky, before plunging the room into complete darkness with a swift shift of her hand.

_Tomorrow is a new day_ was her last thought as she succumbed to sleep a few minutes later.

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The ripple of voices washed over her and she sank further into the stiff, uncomfortable seat with her lean fingers entwined on her jean clad lap beneath the wooden desk. The mixed sound of seats squeaking, the clunk of bags hitting the ground and shrill voices travelling from opposite ends of the lecture room caused her to cringe in her seat. To anyone paying her any attention it would seem she had a regretful hangover, but in reality she just had not been able to get a relaxing sleep the night before. Just as she considered getting up and heading back to her room to rest she felt a weight settle on the seat beside her and realised her opening for escape was gone.

It was for the best. Brittany had always had trouble with mathematics, and skipping even one statistics class would surely cause too much anguish in the long run. If she had it her way she would have never taken another class related to numbers at all. Except for her Arts major it was mandatory to take this one paper. It did not make a whole lot of sense to her, but unfortunately she did not make the rules. Even if she knew she could make some more suitable ones.

As the lecturer entered the room, the chatter died down and Brittany opened her eyes, blinked a couple of times and yawned softly while straightening her back, feeling her muscles ache, and planting her feet flat on the ground directing all her attention to the front of the class.

She hastily shoved her books, and pens back into her pack, cursing inaudibly at the zip that kept catching. The lecture theatre was emptying quickly and she was on the opposite side of campus from her next class that started in, she peeked at her watch, five minutes time.

With her pack strapped over one shoulder she rushed out of her row and up the steps two at a time, nearly tripping over her own loose shoelace. She bent down to retie it hurriedly when she felt someone watching. She glanced up slowly, her eyes locking with a pair of intense mocha orbs, causing her breath to catch in her throat. For a few seconds, that felt like an eternity, she stared before prying her eyes back to the ground as she pushed up to stand . When she looked back the room was empty. She felt what she could only describe as disappointment settle in her stomach, which confused her. It was not as though she knew the girl. She did not know anyone here, except for her aloof roommate. Brittany shook her head, and squeezed her eyes shut for a second or two. She glanced at her watch again. One minute. Shit. She flung her pack back over her shoulder and darted towards the doors.

* * *

She groaned and dropped her pen down on the graffitied desk, glaring at her half blank refill pad. She had been learning about the differences between chiefdoms, tribes, bands and states in her introductory anthropology class and had to write a short summary of each to share in her upcoming tutorial the following week, but she could not seem to concentrate for longer than 10 minutes at a time. Her attention span had always been briefer than others, but at this moment it was beyond frustrating. Realising she would not get any further today Brittany crammed her belongings into her tattered pack, reminding herself that she really needed to buy a proper satchel, and exited the library. She still had 15 minutes before her third and final statistics lecture of the week, so she took a detour, heading towards Milli – her new favourite café on campus.

She took a small sip of her scalding cappuccino, eager to feel the caffeine pulsing through her veins, and smiled softly to herself as the liquid rushed down her throat. With 10 minutes till the start of class she took her time wandering to the lecture room, enjoying her coffee and people watching. Since Monday she had been attempting to catch another glance of those mocha spheres that had occupied her thoughts for nearly five full days, but to no avail. She was about to give up altogether on ever seeing the girl again. Their class being compulsory for so many areas of study meant that there were numerous students and it would not be difficult for her never to see mocha eyes again for the rest of the semester. She frowned at that thought, but quickly forced it from her mind as she entered the theatre and proceeded to take her usual seat, halfway down on the left, a quarter of the way into the row. She set her near empty coffee cup on the narrow desk and pulled her student notes and her rainbow pen from her pack before placing it between her calves. As the class began to assemble she felt the familiar feeling of someone taking their place next to her. She never spoke or introduced herself to the students around her. She knew that it was the most effective way to meet new people, which is what she desperately wanted, but she could never gather enough courage to do so. Not that anyone else did either, which is why she jolted in her seat at the soft voice that emanated from next to her right shoulder.

"Hey..."

Her heart thudded in her chest. Although she had not moved her gaze from staring straight ahead she knew who it was beside her. What she was not sure of however, was why this girl had such an effect on her. She shifted in her seat, her hands rubbing together on the desk surface, as she turned to look at the girl next to her. Her eyes once again locked with mocha eyes, eyes that seemed to look right inside her and she shivered slightly. For a moment all she did was stare until she saw the girl's eyes narrow. She blushed, looking away for just a second, before clearing her throat quietly, and glancing once again to her right.

"Uh..hi.."

The girl smiled gently, her eyes softening as Brittany took her in and Brittany felt her entire body relax.


End file.
